Facebook and Twitter Used to Draft Terrorists, U.N. Report

Facebook and Twitter is progressively being used to recruit people who are encouraged to participate in terrorism activities, spreading propaganda through two of the largest social networking sites online, according to a report by the United Nations which was released last Monday.

Extremists that know a lot about internet-based social networking platforms use these tools for recruiting terrorists. In addition, YouTube and Google have also been found to be used to ensure smooth communication among terrorists.

Facebook and Twitter are being used to recruit terrorists according to a recent U.N. study. (Image: imjustcreative (CC) via Flickr)

The research was conducted and reported by the United Nations Office on Drugs and Crime. Viennese officials involved in counter-terrorism were the first recipients to the released report.

The United Nations calls for countries to sanction the prevention of cyber terrorism in their legislation Furthermore, the U.N. also calls to enhance law enforcement agency collaborations across borders.

According to Leon Panetta, United States Defense Secretary, there is an increasing number of cyber threats towards U.S. intelligence agencies and the Pentagon. If not dealt with accordingly, these threats can be as large as what happened to the twin towers during 9-11.

Furthermore, increasing border ties is in lieu of the fact that terrorists foster ties without borders as well, according to Hans-Georg Maassen, in an interview with Bloomberg news.